THE Pre-FLAT ENVIRONMENT (1988 - 1993)

 

Everything written in the ‘objective style’ of 1950s social sciences or ‘New Criticism’ and everything written in the opaque style of post-structural discourses, now risks being read as a kind of political cover-up, hidden complicity, and intrigue on either the right or the left. Interestingly, the one path that still leads in the direction of scholarly objectivity, detachment, and neutrality is exactly the one originally thought to lead away from these classic virtues: that is, an openly autobiographical style in which the subjective position of the author, especially on political matters, is presented in a clear and straightforward fashion. At least this enables the reader to review his or her own position to make adjustments necessary for dialogue. [1]

It is difficult to locate a single specific reason behind the creation of the FLAT Gallery, for like many creative ventures it began with equal parts of accident and design. The circumstances of a dissatisfaction with the existing exhibition opportunities and ‘art scene’ in Durban, a move by students to seek exhibition venues outside of the institution, an undesignated space ripe for communal use and fresh ideas from outside the area all combined to catalyze what would become the FLAT. However, it is useful to begin with a consideration of the particular cultural environment of Durban at that time.

The Community Arts Workshop (CAW) was an important artist initiative in Durban that had been founded in 1981 by Andries Botha and joined what was then a rise of community art centres around South Africa. As was the case with its counterparts in other parts of the country, the CAW was a site “where artists tried to provide opportunities for training to those denied access to apartheid institutions.” [2] The inclusiveness of the CAW was expressed in that it was an “alternative space… where anyone may come and work.” [3] The FLAT Gallery would later echo this spirit in its assertion that its mission was “to allow anyone to do anything.” [4]
Though it is beyond the scope of this paper to speak more fully about the Community Arts Workshop, it could in some ways be seen as an ‘alternative space’. Its primary function was not that of an exhibition site, but in terms of being a place for ‘alternative practices’, it was indeed vital. In apartheid South Africa, artistic education was denied to black South Africans, and the CAW provided not only ‘training’, but a cultural centre for the free exchange of ideas. Community art centres were important catalysts in furthering the development of an alternative culture in South Africa, through their proactive approach to education. This could be seen as the offering of an educational system that was ‘alternative’ to, or in opposition to, that of the apartheid educational institutions.
Durban’s Community Arts Workshop not only operated as an educational centre, but at the time also functioned as a site for exhibitions, as well as a weekly nightclub. Run by Helga Jansen, the club, called Play , was one of Durban’s earliest outlets for ‘alternative’ and punk music. It is also significant to note that the last exhibition mounted at CAW before its closing in 1988, Artists for Human Rights, asserted the commitment of artists to address social conditions.

At that time, a number of exhibition sites were available to artists in Durban. These included the Durban Art Gallery (DAG), the African Art Centre, the Natal Society of Arts (NSA), the Grassroots Gallery, the Elizabeth Gordon Gallery, as well as the University of Durban-Westville (UDW) Art Gallery and the Technikon Natal Art Gallery. Though these venues differed ideologically and represented a diverse range of artists, the environment of Durban itself was generally considered quite conservative. Indeed many local artists, both young and established, black and white, considered Durban to be culturally lacking. In an early funding campaign letter to the public, Mike van Graan, who would be the director of the Bartel Arts Trust (BAT) Center when it opened in 1995, challenged would be donors by speaking to this perception:

Dear friend,
They say Durban is a cultural backwater
They say nothing ever happens in Durban
And that the people of Durban are apathetic in their support of the arts. [5]

Essex Road Gallery co-founder Thami Jali, in an interview in the second issue of FLAT[6], had this to say:

One thing I have always been concerned about in Durban is the general lack of interest or energy. People are really apathetic. In Johannesburg people get up in the mornings and want to do something. Over the last 15 years I have lived in Johannesburg for a number of long periods and I see things happening. And it is not just white artists exhibiting or organizing something, but people of all racial groups. Here in Durban, people tend to wait for other people to organize exhibitions for them.[7]

We as young artists and students in Durban were fully aware of this “apathy”, and yet, were also aware of the need to combat it through action. For us, it seemed, that any ‘lack’ in an art community lay in the notion that this ‘community’ existed and functioned independently of ones own efforts. Additionally, for many students and young artists there was a mistaken presumption that opportunities would simply ‘be provided’ once one had left the comforts of the institution. A sculpture graduate from Natal Technikon, Greg Streak, spoke to this in an interview in the first issue of FLAT:

I don't think that post institutional realities are made clear enough nor are they emphasized enough. Within your study years there is an enormous infrastructure available to you. You become over‑dependant on the facilities, the moral support, the collective energies, all of which I think are positive attributes but which can undermine your independence. Some further steps need to be introduced to soften the blow from Technikon into the realities of the ‘big‑wide‑world’… There are certainly many talented young artists that just disappear because of a sense of alienation, as a result of a lack of support.[8]

In an effort to combat this perceived apathy and with the realization that as students we needed to take more responsibility for our creative endeavors beyond the institution, many of us made an active commitment to seek-out off-campus (alternative) spaces to exhibit our portfolio and thesis shows. In 1990, Ledelle Moe, Joe Gilson, and myself exhibited our end of term work in the disused Old Library Building on campus before its demolition. The liberating experience of An invitation to an exhibition opened by Andries Botha at the DLI Hall, 1991.

An invitation to an exhibition opened by Andries Botha at the DLI Hall, 1991.

seeing our work outside of the academic environment, and the opportunity this offered for us to investigate more experimental approaches affirmed for us a desire to continue our search for off-campus space. In 1991 Moe and myself exhibited off-campus in an ‘abandoned’ Electricity Building on Alice Street. This space at that time had just become the home of the Stable Theatre and was the site of much creative and ‘alternative’ activity. Again that year, a group of 3rd year students from the sculpture department, including Streak, Moe and myself installed a massive exhibition at the Durban Light Infantry (DLI) Hall. “No‑one,” according to Clive Kellner “had up until that point thought of exhibiting their final shows outside of the confines of the Technikon”.[1] The rise of the FLAT was an extension of these endeavors, and indeed the off-campus-exhibition phenomenon that developed in the years to follow at the Technikon could be seen in some sense as a direct outgrowth of such activities.